How did things in Mexico get so bad that its citizens risk death to sneak into the US to work for low wages?

Question

I know that many Mexican nationals willingly risk life and limb to enter the US for a chance to earn very low pay. What I don't know at this point is what aspects of the Mexican way of life became so broken that her citizens are now willing to risk dying in the desert or in a boiling hot truck trailer for a chance at back-breaking work at extremely low pay and a life as a fuguitive away from their homes and families. Could you please explain (with sources) what is so wrong in Mexico that people would rather violate US immigration laws - at great personal expense and risk - than try to make a life for themselves in their own country?

As if it's even possible, I would prefer to avoid reading a bunch of sub-literate, knee-jerk rhetoric and jingoist invective. Please cite legitimate news stories and other sources when you state your case.

There are some really thoughtful answers coming in here. Nice work, people, and please tell others about this question if you thnk they can offer anything helpful. Hopefully we will be able to point future askers here later on as the neverending debate continues. I can already tell the best answer is going to have to go out to a vote, since it will be difficult for me to pick a single best answer. This is great - you're really restoring my faith in the potential value of this site after I've suffered through days of ignorance and noise.

Answer 1

No strong leaders for the people there for some time. The Leaders here do not care for Mexico so that is no help.

Without those Leaders they were sheep in the woods with no Shepard.
And the wolves took over.

Answer 2

I notice the the closer a culture is to the equator where weather is warm and nuturing the less accomplished the country. From my perspective it has to do with productive hours a person is willing to put forth. Why be couped up somehwere working away (and producing something useful) when you can be out there enjoying life and having fun? Why worry about anything? New dictator in charge? Eh, go have a cold beer with the buddies. The national treasury being pillaged for the 100th time? Watch a soccer match of your favorite team.

Conversely countries that are farther away from the equator have colder winters. This forces the individual to seek refuge and activities at home or work. These are more cerebral in nature forcing the individual to work, think and create. Thinking is the driving force of a free man/woman. You become more demanding of those around you. You expect everyone to suffer and produce just like you. You are much less tolerant of miscreants. Unfortunately internet technologies, like Yahoo Answers, mey even out the playing field and have otherwise creatinve people sit around and becom complacent just like people in countries that I mentioned above.

Answer 3

Well, since we live in America its hard to understand what really goes on over there. Our media doesn't exactly report those things. A life of an indigent Mexican goes something like this. You farm a piece of land, that isn't even yours, but you rent if from a land owner.....You grow a crop, say corn. You do all labor without any equipment, and it back breaking work, in very hot weather. Once you harvest your crop, you take it to the local market, which could be miles aways, you don't have a vehicle or truck, what do you do to get it to market? Once you are able to get it to market, you will get, say .10 cents a head for it? This is your entire lively hood. If you have 200 that will be $20....could you live off of this, even in Mexico it is close to impossible....

You live in a adobe shack, not the adobe we see here, but the adobe where the walls are compacted mud. No air conditioning, running water or electricity. You don't have a phone or TV, what do you do to pass the time? Well you don't HAVE the time, your too busy doing everything for yourself. You don't have any beds, you sleep on the dirt floor or a hammock type of bed, maybe you will have a blanket. If you must use the bathroom, you use an out house. This is the typical life of an indigent Mexican which lives in a small town throughout Mexico...So, we really have no concept what it is like to be poor in a third world country.

BTW, here on border where I live, orphan children right accross the border to the south of me in Mexico, live in the local city dump. The govt. does nothing to find homes for these children, they live off the trash from the city, image that?

Answer 4

When I first moved to Az everyone had 6mos. visas and it worked out very well for everyone. The restaurant we worked at in no way under paid them and they were able to not only contribute to our economy but send money home as well. All this back breaking low wage stuff has me scratching my head, I have had "illegals" refuse to come do work unless it was for 10-12 an hour,there are 2 sies to this whole story.I think the gov't really messed all this up the visas were awesome it benefitted everyone. Once they stopped I tried to help one of my co-workers with the peperwork (can we say a ton?) It was ridiculous. Ive seen both ends the Illegal illegals and the ones that try SO hard to do it all right and still hit a block wall. Needless to say they are not exactly happy with the free ticket being offered to the ones who never even tried to do the right thing.

Answer 5

Ah man! I HATE it when people ask questions and want legitimate, researched answers.

I hate to say it, but my answer is very poorly sourced. But, I have a reasonable explanation.

Let's say you work at Burger King. Burger Kings across your state have burst into flames with employees trapped inside the building. They keep you locked in to make sure that you are "more productive." Now Burger King pays less than a dollar an hour and your daughter really needs to be treated for Infant Diarrhea (this kills thousands every year and is very easy to treat, it just takes a little extra money). Let us also assume that you cannot make anything more at your job.

So, you decide to work at Taco Bell. Unfortunately, Taco Bell has 14 foot high fences and very angry Texans with guns who call you a slew of racial slurs. Thankfully, though, Taco Bell pays a dollar to a whopping two dollars an hour! That will pay for treatment for your daughter and pay for your son's school books too!

Burger King obviously sucks while Taco Bell sucks to a lesser extent. You can chose between being deported or getting raped, beaten, and likely killed. Mexicans, contrary to popular belief, are not animals. Wouldn't you do the same thing for your family and children?

Now how did this situation start, you say? Quite easily. NAFTA did a splendid job of removing restrictions on trade when you are a very, very large corporation *COUGH*the GAP*COUGH* so you can employ workers in the worst parts of Guatemala and Oaxaca for pennies to make your crap to sell at an inflated price.

I hope my analogy wasn't too hokey. I tried to give a pretty simplified version and hope somebody else will do a better job of citing sources than a single news article and reading Chomsky in the bathroom.

EDIT: To the gentleman who pointed out poverty along the equator:

That was a common notion in early Anthropology but has since been debunked. The Mayans produced one of the most amazing civilizations in the entire world for centuries, and they were lving right on the Yucatan Penninsula. It is some of the best weather imaginable there, and they still built sprawling cities and temples and actively kept the jungle cut down to keep roads clear (try that **** with a stone ax and no pack animals!).

It is more a product of circumstances. We have put so many capitalist sympathetic dictators south of the border that drugs have been the only industry keeping those countries afloat. Nobody down there is lazy, to be sure, and they do care about their governments. There are regularly activist movements in every part of Mexico and people try to participate more in their governments than people in America do.

Answer 6

Land reform was never done properly in Mexico. As long as they have the US to take their poor the Mexican ruling class does not have any incentive to give up any of their privileges. You don't have to be Subcommandante Marcos to realize that.

It's sad because Mexico is the #2 oil supplier to the US and obviously has lots of hard-working people, so you would think they could develop themselves a bit. Where does the oil money go? I wish I knew. Bringing the Mexican economy up to speed is the only long-term solution to the immigration problem.

Answer 7

Take a look at this article by William F. Buckley in 1995. I think it does a reasonable job of explaining how this happened. He could have called it "How not to run a country". By the way US aid to Mexico has skyrocketed and nothing seems to help.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n3_v47/ai_16709058

* Mexico, which received a $50 billion multilateral bailout thanks to U.S. urging in 1994, 8 received over $15 million in assistance from the United States in FY 1998. Nevertheless, Mexico voted against the United States 67 percent of the time in the 53rd Session of the UN. Indeed, Mexico received over $56 million in bilateral U.S. economic assistance between 1993 and 1998, yet it voted against the United States an average of 65 percent of the time over that period.

Answer 8

I've just read the responses you've gotten from Mich, Lucky, Jenna and Dick, and I think the four of them summed things up pretty well in their answers to your extremely insightful question.

I would like to add to this that it is not only the extremely poor of Mexico who are heading up to "El Norte," but also the even more extremely poor of Central America and even South America. Over the years that it has become more and more easily done and word has spread throughout the continent, more and more are taking the risks to seek a better life and provide better for their families in the USA, from further and further away. As this migration has occurred, it has been easier and easier for the governments of those countries to just sit back and let the good, generous citizens of the USA provide for their poorest and not bother doing anything for them, themselves. As well, while it looks to us that these poor people are basically being taken advantage of by the businesses and corporations of the USA who pay them what we consider "slave" wages and often take advantage of them even further by cheating them out of wages, etc., to these people, this is like heaven compared to what they have back home. The "slave" wages combined with all the other wonderful benefits and perks that are given to them by the government of the USA all add up to a treasure trove of riches that they cannot resist trying for. As well, when you consider that most of these people who come are the young (early teens to 20s and 30s) people, the young just naturally believe they are invincible, and so they cannot imagine that they will die on their way and even the "small" chance that this will happen is worth the glory they will achieve for themselves and their families, when they make it.

The people back home and even their governments treat these people as heroes when they make it to the USA and start sending money home - in fact, they are held in very high esteem and so are their families back home. Other people look at them with envy as they start to show the benefits of family members in the USA who are sending home money - their homes start to be improved, they are all wearing better clothing, eating much better food, and their children are able to now continue school past the usual maximum grade 7 (after grade 7, they have to pay for their education and most cannot afford this). The average income for a family in Central America ranges from between $500 to $1,000 US per YEAR. So, even if their family member in "El Norte" can only send back to them $100 or $200 per month, this grossly improves their living standards.

Meanwhile, when these young people leave home for their adventure to "El Norte," they leave not knowing if they will ever see their loved ones again, or not. But, it is still worth it to them to try. And, if they are successful, and able to stay in the US, however long but hopefully for at least several years, if/when they are actually deported from the USA, it is seen as a good thing because they now get a nice flight home (if from Central America or further south) and they enjoy that. When they arrive home, to their villages, they are treated as heroes and everyone welcomes them and they usually bring gifts for everyone and it is like a big celebration. They stay for a few months to visit with everyone and then they head back again. And, everytime they return, they are more and more experienced at how to do it and everytime, they are more and more equipped with money to pay the coyotes, from what they earned previously. And everytime they are successful, it inspires more and more of the young people there to do the same thing.

It is very sad, really.

Answer 9

This is a very well thought out question. Thats a little different then what I'm used to here on Yahoo Answers. Clap clap.

Answer 10

You would do the same if you were governed by a dictator that stole from you.